Several types of contactless data interfaces only operate reliably within a limited field around a contactless media reader. Contactless media readers may either have no information about the distance to the contactless fare media or may rely on the received signal strength to estimate the distance. However, the received signal strength is a poor indicator of distance as it can vary many decibels, depending on contactless fare media orientation and obstacles between the contactless fare media and the contactless media reader. With traditional methods, the only way to detect that a contactless fare media holder has presented a contactless fare media to a contactless media reader is when the contactless fare media responds to a “wakeup” call. This means that a contactless media reader has to poll continuously in order to detect a contactless fare media in real time. Such functionality consumes a lot of power and there is no indication of how close the contactless fare media is to the contactless media reader.